SARS and Avian Influenza in China and Canada: The Politics of Controlling Infectious Disease - Innovation in Global Health Governance - page 91

capacity arose because it lacked experience, unlike the HKSar, which had earlier
endured the assault from avian influenza. In May 2006, Taiwan's tenth attempt to
achieve observer status at the wHo failed. the taiwan government complained that
it was due to the Prc opposition. 8
In June 2006 the wHo website listed taiwan as one of the areas apart from the
PRC infected with avian influenza. Taiwan's foreign ministry protested because the
information provided on the website was misleading and hurt the island republic's
image in tourism, international trade, and human security. 9 both the United States and
canada supported taiwan's participation in the wHo as an observer, but the Prc
insisted that taiwan is part of china and therefore was 'ineligible'. 10 a lthough as
director general of the wHo Margaret chan vowed to assist taiwan in its participation
in wHo technical activities, it remains to be seen how it can be effectively brought
under the wHo umbrella for combating infectious disease. 11 In the wake of the
victory of the pro-reunification candidate Ma Ying-jeou in taiwan's presidential
election in 2008, prospects for rapprochement between taipei and beijing appear
to be cautiously optimistic. Ma's KMt has advocated that taiwan should enter the
wHo under the name of Zhonghua Taiwan [Chinese, Taiwan]. Obviously, the KMT
has tried to test the diplomatic position of the Prc side. regardless of the political
tug of war between taiwan and mainland china, taiwan's entry into the wHo would
undoubtedly help the island prevent itself from being plagued by another outbreak
of a SarS-type disease.
both Hong Kong and china cooperated with the wHo during the SarS crisis in
2003. The outbreak of avian influenza in China in 2005 and 2006 raised the question
of sharing samples for virus testing with the wHo, but wHo representatives in china
complained that beijing was reluctant to provide samples for further experiments.
chan, however, vowed to remain impartial toward the Prc, which had lobbied many
countries to vote for her. Indeed, with the election of canadian-trained chan as its
head, the wHo is encountering the challenge of engaging china to bring it into the
orbit of improved cooperation. 12
In the SARS and avian influenza crises, governmental capacity in infectious
disease control was the strongest in Singapore, followed in order of effectiveness by
Hong Kong, South Korea, vietnam, china, and taiwan. In november 2006, South
Korea took immediate action to slaughter 125 000 chickens, and 236 000 poultry as
well as pigs, dogs, and cats during the outbreak of H5n1. 13 vietnam was viewed
as a successful example of containing its spread in 2003. However, its success should
not be exaggerated: due to the small number of SarS cases, Hanoi could contain the
virus by adopting a tight monitoring system. It remains to be seen whether vietnam
can contain the spread of avian influenza. In fact, chickens smuggled from china to
vietnam carry the danger of transmitting H5n1 across the border. 14 with an increase
in human traffic and trade flows across the Sino-Vietnamese border, infectious
disease can penetrate vietnam rapidly but invisibly.
china's response to SarS was divided into two phases, including an earlier stage
in which a sluggish response was compounded by localism and a later stage where
leadership from the top was intertwined with full-scale mobilisation of the public